The inventors of the present invention contemplate a potential exponential growth in the need to update, program, reflash, configure, calibrate or otherwise facilitate updating software, applications, instructions, files, code and other constructs when stored within memory of various modules, devices, etc., particularly for modules included within automobiles, vehicles, vessels, airplanes or other devices having relatively long operational lives that require such updates to be performed well after the manufacturing date. Part of the exponential growth is contemplated to result from more and more vehicles including modules, controllers or other features having software-based controls or other instruction dependent infrastructures where updates may be desirable for security breaches, bugs, defects or other coding issues arising or determined subsequent to the manufacturing date or deployment of the corresponding vehicle. While automobiles, for example, may be updated at a garage or a dealership having individuals with expertise with automobiles, requiring automobile owners to take their vehicle to such locals can be inconvenient. The inconvenience may lead to some owners simply avoiding the software update altogether, leaving a potentially problematic situation for continued operation of the vehicle as the update may be important to maintaining a proper operational state of the automobile.
One non-limiting aspect of the present invention contemplates facilitating software updates and other updates to automobiles and other vehicles without requiring the owners to take the vehicle to a dealership or a location having individuals with specialized expertise. One non-limiting aspect of the present invention envisions a controller, optionally physically attached to the updated device, having capabilities sufficient to facilitate performing updates automatically through wireless signaling, over the air (OTA) signaling or other communication means (wired connection). This capability may be advantageous, for example, in facilitating updates while a vehicle is within a home of the owner and/or enabling owners to perform updates themselves or in a manner where particular expertise may be unnecessary.